Zhu Chanchan's heart pounded in fear. *Hacking a heavenly god to death? Does this forgetful bird even know what it's saying?*
Yuan Qi and the bronze bell, however, knew that Jin Buyi truly had hacked one. For instance, the outer god Tianshu from earlier had been hacked by him—and badly, at that.
Furthermore, the bronze bell knew that in ancient history, Jin Buyi had slain far more heavenly gods, earning a genuinely fearsome reputation. Even so, the outer god Tianshu was immensely formidable. Back in the Land of Exile, Jin Buyi had held the upper hand at the beginning of their clash. But Jin Buyi was old now, his vitality and blood far diminished from his prime; if the fight dragged on, the outer god Tianshu would have seized the advantage.
Fortunately, Jin Buyi soon forgot the whole matter and closed his eyes to rest.
The group looked around. This was the junction between the Netherworld and the mortal realm, where spaces were still continuously unfolding from the Cangwu Abyss, leaving the division between Yin and Yang blurred and uncertain.
One could even glimpse human villages within the Netherworld, and wandering ghosts roaming the mortal realm.
Zhu Chanchan carefully surveyed their surroundings and suddenly noticed something, gasping, "Look at the terrain here. Doesn't it seem faintly depressed?"
Yuan Qi and the bronze bell paid it little mind.
Then Zhu Chanchan discovered something else and flew over to a faint, barely perceptible trace on the ground, crying out, "Come here, quick!"
Yuan Qi was coiled atop the bronze bell, and the bell lazily drifted over. "What is it now?"
"This is a tribulation line!"
Zhu Chanchan's expression turned grave as she said to them, "Do you see? When a heavenly tribulation erupts, unfathomably terrifying energy expands outward and its force crushes outward, leaving behind this tribulation line in the air!"
She looked around and stated solemnly, "Someone once underwent a tribulation nearby, causing the strange phenomenon of slightly tilting terrain and leaving this tribulation line. The site of the tribulation should be roughly a thousand li from here!"
Yuan Qi raised the tip of his tail and pointed toward Mount Jiuyi. "Could the tribulation site be over there?"
Zhu Chanchan took out her compass and ruler to measure the tribulation line and calculate the center of the circle. She gasped in astonishment, "It really is there! Who knew Lord Seven was actually a master of divination and arithmetic!"
Yuan Qi's gaze turned dark and profound. "That is where Zhou Qiyun underwent his tribulation. Four years ago, before you returned from the other shore, Zhou Qiyun abducted the heavenly gods of the Zhou Tian right there to pass his heavenly tribulation."
On the main peak of Mount Jiuyi, encircled by eight surrounding summits, Xu Ying walked at an unhurried pace beneath a parasol tree.
Beneath the tree lay a desolate grave, untended and overgrown with withered weeds.
This was an ascension site that had become a prized cultivation ground for the prominent clans. The heaven-and-earth primordial qi here was extraordinarily abundant, allowing one to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
However, by now, the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body had spread far and wide. Whether Qi Refiners or Nuo masters, many had opened multiple secret depositories within themselves.
With secret depositories unlocked, an unending supply of immortal medicine flowed through their bodies, making cultivation at an ascension site far less critical than before.
There were still some Nuo masters present, but they were all peripheral disciples of the clans who had never received true teachings.
When they saw Xu Ying, none recognized him as the ageless immortal who had once wreaked havoc in Shendu. Seeing that he wasn't disturbing their cultivation, they didn't drive him away. Yet one youth ran over and asked, "What did you come up the mountain for?"
Xu Ying shook the wine jug in his hand and smiled. "To pay my respects to an old acquaintance."
The youth was a disciple of the Wang clan of Shendu. He found Xu Ying's face somewhat familiar, yet couldn't recall where he had seen it. "Is the person in the grave a friend of yours?"
"An enemy. I buried him here with my own hands," Xu Ying said calmly.
The youth replied, "This ascension site is shared by the great clans. Since you aren't one of us, don't linger. Once you've paid your respects, leave early so you don't stir up trouble."
Xu Ying gave a slight nod.
The youth asked no more and ran off to cultivate.
Buried in the grave was Zhou Qiyun's human skin; Xu Ying had personally laid him to rest. Having emerged from the Netherworld, Xu Ying had been stirred with emotion over the matter of Li Xiaoke, which brought him here.
Holding the wine jar, he splashed half of it over the burial mound and said wistfully, "Your obsession dispersed, and you chose to vanish forever. Li Xiaoke's obsession refused to disperse, pretending he was still alive. He wasn't as free and untethered as you. Qiyun, I drink to you."
He tilted his head back and drank deeply.
It wasn't good wine—just cheap liquor he had casually bought in the county seat of Lingling, hardly strong enough to intoxicate.
Yet Xu Ying seemed drunk nonetheless. He lay atop Zhou Qiyun's grave, drinking heartily while pouring out his heart to Zhou Qiyun, bursting into laughter from time to time.
The purple immortal plant hopped down from Xu Ying's shoulder and took root on the mound, attempting to absorb the buried person's energy. But upon sinking its roots, it found only a human skin.
"Tomb grass," Xu Ying scoffed softly.
Suddenly, birdsong reached his ears—as if countless birds were chirping right beside him. Startled, his heart tightened, and he sat up.
The purple immortal plant also sensed something was wrong, hastily pulling up its roots and burrowing into Xu Ying's Realm of Xiyi. But without him noticing, a white-browed youth was already standing before the grave. Xu Ying's eye twitched.
This white-browed youth was identical to the Zhou Qiyun lying in the grave; even his bearing and temperament showed virtually no difference.
The white-browed youth turned his gaze, smiled faintly, and spoke: "Lord Xu, long time no see."
Xu Ying slowly stood. The muscles across his body tensed and shifted; every subtle motion was accompanied by minute adjustments, keeping him poised to explode with force at any given moment.
The chirping in his ears had not vanished, but beneath the surge of his martial intent, its influence on him grew weaker and weaker.
The white-browed youth chuckled. "Lord Xu seems not to recognize me. I am Zhou Qiyun. You remember our letters, don't you?"
Xu Ying said in a deep voice, "Zhou Qiyun is already dead. I buried him."
Beneath the glowing ascension mist nearby, blood suddenly splattered. A clan disciple went mad and embarked on a slaughter, severing a Nuo master's head and hoisting it in his hand, shouting, "I told you, 'Returning Bird to the Nest' isn't practiced like that! But would you listen? Now do you see? This is the right way!"
He had been instructing Nuo masters in cultivation techniques, only to fly into a rage for no reason and hack his student to death with that very move.
On another side, a Nuo master laughed wildly, roaring, "I have comprehended the Heavenly Dao's creation, an extraordinary divine power!"
He channeled his Mud Pill Nuo technique, causing the flesh of those around him to sprout uncontrollably. In an instant, they turned into grotesque monsters before their bodies detonated with sickening pops, coating the ground in gore.
Elsewhere, someone killed his best friend, hissing venomously, "I know you meant well, but you talk too much!"
In a matter of moments, the ascension site transformed into a slaughterhouse. Soon, only a single survivor remained.
Wiping the blood from his face, the man stared at the corpses littering the ground in horror, trembling, "I did this? I killed so many people... I'm a monster! I deserve ten thousand deaths!"
He tore at his own face until it was a bloody ruin, then ripped out his own heart. A moment later, he collapsed into a pool of blood.
The young Zhou Qiyun paid this no heed, smiling. "I am Zhou Qiyun. Did you really think a mere angler could kill me—"
Before he could finish, Xu Ying stomped his foot. The entirety of Mount Jiuyi violently shuddered, the mountain rumbling as though on the verge of sinking!
*Boom!*
Xu Ying struck with a palm. In the next instant, his hand slammed into the young Zhou Qiyun's face. That familiar face exploded with a resounding bang—the Second Method of the Eight Methods of the God of War: Earth-Overturning!
With this single strike, Xu Ying channeled the sheer force that nearly sank Mount Jiuyi into his palm, infused with his own cultivation and will. When unleashed, it was truly the most domineering of martial arts divine powers!
Behind the young Zhou Qiyun, another Zhou Qiyun suddenly manifested, wearing an expression of surprise before his head exploded with a bang. Then another Zhou Qiyun appeared behind him, his shocked expression still shifting before his head, too, burst apart.
A string of explosive detonations rang out continuously as one Zhou Qiyun after another appeared behind the original, lined up across the void. Their heads shattered in succession, bodies tumbling down, while the expressions of the Zhou Qiyuns appearing further back gradually shifted from shock to a smile.
The power of Xu Ying's strike obliterated hundreds of young Zhou Qiyuns, but even such palm force had its limits. As the headless bodies of hundreds of Zhou Qiyuns collapsed, spewing blood, the final smiling Zhou Qiyun withstood the palm, his head remaining intact.
*Bang!*
The palm force struck his face, sending clouds of dust billowing. When the dust cleared, a tall, triangular-headed stone statue stood before Xu Ying, stone dust sloughing off its face.
The stone statue laughed aloud, striding forward. "Xu Ying, surely you've heard the saying: 'Supernatural powers are no match for Heavenly Fate'? Heavenly Will went to capture you and let you escape, but in the hands of the High God Tianshu, you have no chance of escape!"
The deity reached out to seize him, laughing raucously, "Even heavenly gods have differences in strength, and I am a high god among high gods!"
At the very moment his hand reached forward, popping sounds erupted in the sky. Fleshy orbs dropped down from the air around Mount Jiuyi, swaying gently.
Then, those fleshy orbs split open, turning into countless eyes watching Xu Ying from every conceivable angle, observing his every move.
Xu Ying immediately recalled having seen the exact same scene in the Land of Heaven's Scourge.
It was the divine power displayed by the outer god imprisoned there when it broke free—back then, flesh and blood covering the land had floated into the sky, blanketing the heavens, before countless eyes dangled down from above.
*The outer god in the Land of Heaven's Scourge and the High God Tianshu of the Heavenly Dao world are the exact same kind of Heavenly Dao deity!*
In a flash of inspiration, he grasped the crux of it. Both High Gods Tianshu were identical creations of the Heavenly Dao. After the outer god in the Land of Heaven's Scourge was suppressed by the sinners, the Heavenly Dao world discarded it and replaced it with a new High God Tianshu to continue governing Heavenly Fate.
There was no time to hesitate. Xu Ying instantly shifted his stance into the Heaven-Overturning Method, his fist descending like an immortal weapon from the heavens. Yet the stone statue of Tianshu swayed sharply, evading the lethal blow. Xu Ying channeled the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique to dodge, but the stone statue mirrored his evasion, appearing right beside him and unleashing a palm strike, the Heavenly Dao runes along its arm blazing with blinding brilliance.
*Boom!*
Xu Ying took the hit and was hurled violently backward!
While still midair, the High God Tianshu flashed before him, swinging a thick stone leg in a brutal sweep.
Xu Ying surged his true essence, unleashing the Sea-Toppling Method. But just as his martial divine power began to take shape, the stone statue shifted, dodging his line of attack before the blow even landed.
With a vicious whoosh, the stone leg slammed heavily into Xu Ying's waist.
*Crash!*
Mount Jiuyi exploded in the distance, dust billowing as Xu Ying smashed deep into the mountainside, every bone in his body aching with agonizing pain.
The stone statue of Tianshu laughed uproariously, swooping down like a whirlwind. With a thunderous boom, its fist ground against Xu Ying's body, punching straight through the summit of Mount Jiuyi!
Xu Ying tumbled repeatedly, crashing onto a distant peak.
He climbed to his feet, but a crisp snap echoed from his leg, dropping him onto one knee—his right leg bone had fractured.
Pushing off with his left leg, he stood and channeled his Mud Pill cave-heaven to set the broken bone.
The stone statue dropped from the sky, landing before him. Xu Ying channeled his Nuo art, attempting to strip its vitality, yet Nuo techniques had zero effect on such a heavenly god.
"Supernatural powers cannot overcome Heavenly Fate. Beneath Tianshu, everything is calculated with flawless precision, without the slightest error."
The stone statue dodged, slipping past Xu Ying's Mountain-Colliding Method, then tilted aside to avoid his Dao Hammer Method. The exquisite martial techniques of the Eight Methods of the God of War seemed utterly useless against him.
The countless eyes suspended in the sky could perceive the secrets of all Xu Ying's moves.
Xu Ying channeled the Sixth Method, the Heavenly Attraction Method. Transforming himself into a massive star, time and space around him nearly collapsed, yet the stone statue shifted with uncanny agility, dodging every single strike.
Xu Ying's heart sank. He shifted from the Heavenly Attraction Method to the God-Execution Method.
"Xu Ying, beneath Heavenly Fate, no one can escape what has long been ordained."
The stone statue leisurely avoided his God-Execution finger force and casually swung its arm out. Yet as if possessed, Xu Ying dodged straight into its palm.
The Heavenly Dao runes flared, and the stone statue's palm force erupted. Even though Xu Ying channeled the Extreme Intent Freedom Technique to evade, he was still struck, sent crashing back onto Mount Jiuyi!
He had barely steadied himself when the stone statue appeared before him once more.
With a smirk, the statue said, "Beichenzi and the others are absolute fools, constantly sending reports and disturbing our peace. However, we Heavenly Dao gods happened to need an excuse to intervene in the lower realm. You gave us that chance."
The deity glanced around and remarked leisurely, "All this time, we Heavenly Dao gods have been bound by those above, lacking the true authority the ancient outer gods possessed. They could descend at will and feast on sacrificial offerings, free from the control of the Heavenly Dao divine artifacts. We, too, wish to enjoy the offerings of the common people; we, too, wish to hold supreme power."
Xu Ying wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "You want to descend to the mortal realm?"
The stone statue flashed an eerie smile and looked down at him. "Indeed. In ancient times, the heavenly gods ruled the world. When the peoples of the myriad worlds waged war, they sacrificed to the gods; when they planted crops, they sacrificed to the gods."
With a light wave of the deity's hand, simple sketches of common mortals sacrificing to heavenly gods appeared before Xu Ying's eyes, resembling the primal graffiti carved onto stone cliffs by ancient ancestors.
Those ancient ancestors had offered cattle, sheep, and beasts as sacrifices—and among them, humans as well. People were bound and dragged to altars, offered to the gods like livestock. In exchange, the ancestors prayed for bountiful harvests, favorable weather, and national peace. Likewise, they prayed for divine protection in war to grant their warriors victory over their enemies.
The heavenly gods had manipulated wars, plagues, floods, droughts, fires, and earthquakes across countless worlds, elevating mortals' reverence for them to its absolute peak.
"If there is no war, we manufacture war; if there is no plague, we create plague,"
the stone statue said leisurely. "That is the kind of world we wish to return to."
Xu Ying exhaled and laughed. "And can false gods like you, who can't even get the Heavenly Dao runes right, actually pull that off?"
The eyebrows on the statue's triangular face twitched in bewilderment. "What did you say?"
Xu Ying channeled the Heaven-Overturning Method and brought his fist crashing down, laughing, "I said, you call yourself Tianshu, yet your body is riddled with so many flawed Heavenly Dao runes. Don't you even have a clue?"
The countless eyes hanging in the air instantly captured the trajectory of Xu Ying's punch, calculating the flaw in his technique. The stone statue moved to dodge.
*Bam!*
Xu Ying's fist smashed squarely into its face. The stone statue roared in fury as a chain of figures manifested behind it, a succession of heads popping and exploding in unison.
Xu Ying stepped forward, closing the distance, and unleashed the Earth-Overturning Method. The entirety of Mount Jiuyi suddenly sank several feet as his palm slammed into the deity's face, the force of the second technique detonating and piercing straight through hundreds of stone statues behind it!
"My memories may be sealed—"
Xu Ying unleashed the Sea-Toppling Method, bearing down like the weight of a vast ocean. Boundless power erupted, cracking the bodies of stone statues one after another.
"—but with a single glance, I can see that the Heavenly Dao runes on your body are full of mistakes!"
Xu Ying stepped forward again, executing the Heavenly Attraction Method. Countless stone statues were dragged into his orbit, manifesting and swirling around him.
With finger strikes, palms, fists, and kicks, he shattered the statues one by one.
"I have seen through every one of your Heavenly Dao runes! Even if you can anticipate my moves, I can still kill you!"
Xu Ying let out a thunderous shout. The resonance of the Dao vibrated within him, his bones and sinews harmonizing in unison. Unleashing the God-Execution Method, a rainbow streak pierced straight through the brows of all the stone statues!
*Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!*
Countless crisp snaps blended into a single line of sound. In the end, all the statues froze and fused back into one.
The stone statue of Tianshu came to an abrupt halt before Xu Ying, motionless.
*Snap!*
Its head exploded, and the body swayed before collapsing to the ground.
Xu Ying turned toward Zhou Qiyun's desolate grave and smiled. "Qiyun, do you see? This is who I am today. Back then, you abducted a heavenly god to pass your heavenly tribulation, stunning the world. And today, I offer an avatar of Tianshu as a sacrifice to you."
The stone statue of Tianshu slumped onto its knees with a thud—facing directly toward Zhou Qiyun's untended grave.
The desolate mound lay silent, offering no reply, only the withered grass swaying in the wind.
"Xu Ying—!"
At the summit of Mount Jiuyi, lightning flashed and thunder crashed as a violent gale suddenly howled. Roiling storm clouds cast the sky into pitch-black gloom.
A muffled rumbling rolled across the heavens as the sinking cloud layer suddenly morphed into a colossal face. It was the High God Tianshu, who opened his mouth and bellowed, "Xu Ying, you are courting death—"
Before the word "death" could fully ring out, Xu Ying blasted the Dao-Returning Method toward the heavens. The Great Dao roared between heaven and earth, coalescing into countless beams of bright light that merged together to blow the High God Tianshu's face to smithereens!
The strike even pierced into the Heavenly Dao world, rattling the true body of the High God Tianshu.
Xu Ying looked up toward the realm beyond the sky, his clothes billowing and snapping in the wind. "Useless wretch. You dare not descend in person—no matter how many avatars you send, I will kill every last one!"
Chapter 195